So what's the deal with Glamorous Sky?

[nullmoon 784]

Is it like some unofficial jrock national anthem or something? There seems to be a bunch of covers for the song...most of which sound exactly the same but with different vocalists. 

 

I'm just curious about the history behind it and why it's a thing! Not knocking the song at all, it's a bop.

 

(Also, Girugamesh did it best :p) 

[saishuu 3220]

It is just a very popular since being featured in the NANA anime, that's all?

And it was composed by hyde from Laruku, so you know he's getting that money.

[violetchain 912]

Yeah, I think the connection to NANA is a big part of the appeal. I know that SHIN covered it because he said he used to read the NANA manga and the character Shin from that series was where he got his stage name from. Plus most of the people who cover it also tend to be big Hyde fans...

[YuyoDrift 1540]

9 hours ago, violetchain said:

Yeah, I think the connection to NANA is a big part of the appeal.

Half-right. I was around when the original "Glamorous sky" released, and in order to fully understand, we need to backtrack a bit.

 

The amount of people I knew (mostly girls) that were into VK/Japanese Rock at the time (2001-2005), were also hardcore manga readers (Japanese everything, amirite?), and the series NANA (already been out for maybe a few years) was definitely one of the top selling manga at the time (I'm sure both in Japan and Internationally). Tying HYDE into it, L'Arc~en~Ciel had just recently resumed activities after their hiatus, and it was definitely their song "Ready Steady GO", used in the anime Fullmetal Alchemist, that shot them back up into the limelight here in the USA. Their old albums were dusted off the shelves and played non-stop (there were AMVs for their songs all over the internet at the time), and when people heard that HYDE was composing a new song for the live-adaptation of NANA, to be sung by none-other than Mika Nakashima (who was the main character for the live-film, and already recognized as the music artist she was), the hype got real. So real in fact, that you can check billboards for Japan and any articles online reviewing the song, it was a #1 hit for WEEKS.

 

I also knew people that were fans and could play the guitar, and apparently "Glamorous Sky" is very easy to understand composition-wise, and can be dissected to play certain parts that the fans are comfortable with, without ruining the song.

 

I never really looked into the song after about a year of its debut, but with the recent re-recorded version of the song (included in the single Kiss of Death (Produced by Hyde), which was the OP of the anime Darling in the Franxx), I was surprised that the reception to a song that was already 13 or so years old was as good as it was. It was snuck in there, and if it weren't for the advertising, I don't think people would have noticed. I definitely recommend you listen to the 2005 version of "glamorous sky" before checking the 2018 one (her voice has changed slightly in this one, and the emotion of the song is almost non-existent).

 

Just an FYI, the reception of the song influenced other music companies to implement the same strategy, such as the 2018 version of "A Cruel Angel's Thesis (Zankoku na Tenshi no Tese)", which was used for the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, and sung by Yoko Takahashi. Definitely another heavy hit song of the times before Mika Nakashima.

 

Spoiler

"SOUL'S REFRAIN/TAMASHII NO REFRAIN" is the real sleeper for that single by Yoko Takahashi. Not hijacking the thread, but definitely a song to listen to in your life.

 

EDIT: Also check out "Tsukinomeikyu" from the 1995 single as well. So nice.

 

EDIT:

 

For those wondering, the anime-adaptation of NANA was not that big of an influence to the overall popularity of the series or the song "Glamorous Sky", so much as the Manga/Film was. The anime is now recognized as a "must watch" by those around in the anime scene at that time, but the song by Mika Nakashima/HYDE is separated only by the order in which everything happened. More people will know of the song before they know about the anime/manga they are associated with. Which explains why a lot of "covers" don't reference the series so much as Mika Nakashima herself.

Edited August 16, 2019 by YuyoDrift
timeline corrected

[nullmoon 784]

Thanks very much, guys! 

 

@YuyoDrift, thank you for transporting me back in time! It's fascinating to hear about Hyde's/L'arc's influence back in the day. Plenty for me to listen to now as well

[YuyoDrift 1540]

4 minutes ago, nullmoon said:

It's fascinating to hear about Hyde's/L'arc's influence back in the day.

It's hard for me realize/accept ( I was not the biggest L'arc fan) how influential they were to the boom (rather, the second wave, leading to the golden era) of Japanese culture to the USA, but yeah '04-'05 was a pivotal change. I mean, L'Arc~en~Ciel returned out of nowhere with their single in the anime, combined with the album SMILE the same year, along with the touring here, and then the shit going down in Japan with NANA (that soon headed our way) being iconic....

Yeah, they did a lot those 2 years lol.

[nullmoon 784]

5 hours ago, YuyoDrift said:

It's hard for me realize/accept ( I was not the biggest L'arc fan) how influential they were to the boom (rather, the second wave, leading to the golden era) of Japanese culture to the USA, but yeah '04-'05 was a pivotal change. I mean, L'Arc~en~Ciel returned out of nowhere with their single in the anime, combined with the album SMILE the same year, along with the touring here, and then the shit going down in Japan with NANA (that soon headed our way) being iconic....

Yeah, they did a lot those 2 years lol.

I was actually introduced to them via Ready Steady Go in Osu Tatakae Ouendan so I guess their reach was pretty omnipresent by then 🤣